Italrugby, Gonzalo Quesada’s analysis of the call-ups towards the Quilter Nations Series

The Quilter Nations Series is about to begin: Italy will take on Australia, South Africa and Chile in the last 3 Test matches of its 2025, and the Azzurri group is preparing in Verona as it approaches the challenge with the Wallabies on November 8. For the occasion, head coach Gonzalo Quesada selected 33 players, explaining his choices role by role. The blue coach started by analyzing the leadership of the group: “We have chosen a group of four captains. They will be those who have already led the team in this 2025, so Michele Lamaro, Nacho Brex, Giacomo Nicotera and Niccolo Cannone. For each game we will choose one captain and two vice-captains based on the lineup that will go on the field. Michele is our main captain, but I think it is important not to load all the responsibility on the shoulders of one player. In the last few years he has been captain of both the national team and Benetton, he has had to do a great job of managing the internal dynamics with the club as well, and that has taken a lot of energy away from him. And then, actually, we’ve always had a ‘council of leaders’ who help us work on our team identity and culture, so really almost nothing changes.”

In the front line Gonzalo Quesada has made choices under the banner of continuity. Fischetti, Spagnolo, Ferrari, and Riccioni were confirmed, and after the summer tour Hasa was also confirmed: “Momo was a safe call-up, both for what he did this summer showing he was at the required level against South Africa and for how he started the season at Zebre. As for the others, Fischio (Fischetti) is an example of hard work and performance, and with Northampton he started well and with adequate minutes, neither too high nor too low. Mirco (Spagnolo) played a lot in Treviso and had some physical problems but is now 100 percent. On the right there was a lot of competition: we chose Simo (Ferrari) and Riccio (Riccioni), but we also considered Nocera, Zilocchi and Ceccarelli, players always on our radar. As for hooker, in addition to Giacomo (Nicotera) who is still a bit ahead of the others, we have Diba (Di Bartolomeo) and Pablo (Dimcheff) available, who have shown this summer that they can be up to the national team: we are happy and confident because we have 3 ready hooker available.”

As for the second line, in addition to the confirmed Niccolò Cannone and Ruzza, Quesada has summoned Andrea Zambonin-always lined up in Exeter-along with Riccardo Favretto and newcomer Enoch Opoku: “I would also like to clarify that without the injury Matteo Canali would have been summoned. Unfortunately, Edo Iachizzi is also unavailable. At that point we thought it was appropriate to allow Enoch (Opoku) to be part of the group, after an excellent world championship with the U20, and to experience the preparation at this level: he has great potential and we want to get to know him better. Favrez (Favretto) is a player who guarantees us coverage in both roles of the second line, as well as being able to play number 6. And then I am happy with how Zambo (Zambonin) is playing: I knew he would start well with Exeter because he had a good summer tour. Fede Ruzza is a very important player for this national team, he had a difficult 3 months with an ankle injury but he is back at 100%. So with Andrea (Zambonin) and Riccardo (Favretto) we can have three “5’s” of great quality.

Turning to the third lines, Quesada confirmed his trusted sextet: Lamaro, Vintcent, Lorenzo Cannone, Zuliani, Izekor and Negri. “We have a high-level third line,” Quesada explained, “and our choices will be made based on the fitness of the guys, considering that some of them are coming from injuries and so we have to figure out who is 100 percent. Therefore, the choice of the third line will also be linked to tactical issues: “We usually prefer to have a lineout jumper in number 6, and so this leads us, at times, to have to make a choice between Mitch (Lamaro) and Zuzu (Zuliani) as number 7, with one who comes in from the bench, but it is not excluded that one day we might think about playing them together if it is the best choice for the team. Regarding their alternation, Mitch obviously is a key player for this group and is the main captain. Zuzu last year was very strong, one of the best both at Benetton and in the national team, and when at the Six Nations against Ireland we sensed he was better we logically deployed him. Michele had an excellent reaction and behaved in an exemplary manner, despite the fact that he was not a starter after a very long time. This is to emphasize the quality of our group and our leaders.”

Turning to the midfield, Gonzalo Quesada will be able to count on three number 9s (Varney, Page-Relo and Alessandro Garbisi) all performing well and with a lot of minutes in this beginning of the season. “Unfortunately, Ale Fusco’s injury leaves him out of the call-up list because he was playing really well at Zebre. However, the situation is good if we think that last year many of our halfbacks were not playing. Varney was not called up last November precisely because he had not had any minutes in Gloucester and was moving to Vannes: this year in Exeter he is playing a lot and I am very happy with his performance. Ale Garbisi and Martin (Page-Relo) were also playing little, whereas this year they are much more involved. In fact, we will have to manage Martin because he has had so many minutes and will also play this weekend in Top 14, so we will have to take good care of the approach to the test matches. The most important thing is that having played consistently all 3 are able to be on the field 80 minutes, and because we often use a 6+2 bench it is a key aspect because we may need the starting 9 to play the whole game and end up covering another role.”

As for the opener, in addition to Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Allan – who need no introduction – there is also a Giacomo Da Re who has shown in the summer that he can be at the required level: “We decided to let Paolo and Tommy rest for the tourney, giving the opportunity to Giacomo Da Re and Giovanni Montemauri. Jack (Da Re) made the right choice by going to Zebre. By playing with continuity I was able to call him up and, in Namibia and South Africa with great performances, he has shown us that he can be a real option for the blue number 10 jersey.”

As for the centers, Tommy (Menoncello) and Nacho (Brex) are now a close-knit and broken pair. With their quality they make the competition for the role of center even higher.” However, Quesada is also banking heavily on Leonardo Marin: he wanted to reintroduce him as second point guard in the summer, but an injury against Namibia changed plans: “We have total confidence in Leo Marin and he will be a real option as center for this tourney. He had trained very well this summer and against Namibia he was playing well before getting injured. His physical and technical quality allows us to have an additional option considering that we often use a center as a second point guard. Coming from that injury he has not played much, so we have to see if he will be ready to take the field in an international game from the start yet: we will evaluate well in these days, but we are counting on him. Among the center roles we have Damiano (Mazza) because he is very performing with Zebre and we really like him as a player: he is also a real option. Giulio Bertaccini did well and was among the candidates, and he was the hardest choice to make because he deserved it as much as the others. Fede Mori did not play much and so he was further back but he is someone we have been following for a long time.

Closing with the extended triangle, the call-ups will be Ioane, Lynagh, Capuozzo, Todaro and Pani. If the first three are already broken in at international level, the main question to ask the coach obviously concerns Edoardo Todaro: at 19 years old he made his Premiership debut scoring and playing as a starter with Northampton, although his young age and lack of experience compared to his teammates keep him a bit further back in the hierarchies. Explains Quesada: “I really liked Edoardo during the U20 6 Nations and the U20 World Cup. Even before we started the season we had already thought of calling him up on a few occasions to give him experience with us. Clearly, the fact that he made his debut in the Premiership and did well led us to call him up right away even though he is very young: on the possibility of taking the field for now he is a bit behind other choices, Edo is here to find out what the international level means and understand what we do in the national team, but it is not excluded that he may have an opportunity to take the field if we feel he is ready.” Also worth noting is the important return of Lorenzo Pani, who has been absent for over a year due to two very long consecutive injuries: “We were so sorry not to be able to take him on tour this summer. Although he is still readjusting to get back to his level and is still not 100 percent for us it was important to bring him back to the national team to allow him to regain his automatisms with the team. He is a great player and will increase the competition in the role. To find him back is good news.” Regarding Toulouse’s use of Capuozzo as scrum-half, Quesada explained, “Toulouse is a case in point, it is a very strong team full of versatile players suited to its style of play, with many of them alternating in different roles. I am happy that Ange also takes advantage of these opportunities to play. As far as Italy is concerned, however, he remains above all a fullback and a winger.”